http://craig.senate.gov/press/

For Immediate Release:
April 6, 2007

Terrible Tax Day Approaches

by Senator Larry Craig

Every year, on April 1, millions of Americans suffer a cruel realization. No, it isn't an April Fool's joke. It's the reminder that comes when we flip the calendar from March to April - "Tax Day" is just two weeks away.

Of course, by now, Tax Day is even closer. If you haven't filed your tax returns yet, I'd like to take the opportunity to urge you to file them as soon as possible, before the last-minute crunch is on.

This year, Tax Day comes two days later than normal - on April 17 - because the 15th falls on a Sunday. Similarly, "Tax Freedom Day" comes two days later in 2007 than it did last year, arriving on April 30.

What is Tax Freedom Day? It is calculated by the Tax Foundation, and to make a long story short, it's a measurement of how many days you'll have to work this year to earn enough to pay your tax burden. In theory, every dollar the average taxpayer earns until April 30 goes to federal, state and local taxes. This year, the average taxpayer will work more than a third of the year before earning enough money to pay his or her taxes for the year.

As if that news isn't bad enough, Tax Freedom Day will only get later and later under the leadership of Congressional Democrats. Under the current budget they proposed, taxes will go up by $736 billion - with a "b" - over the next 5 years. That is the largest tax hike in American history.

Many Democrats campaigned in 2006 on the message that they, not Republicans, were the party of fiscal responsibility, and that the "tax-and-spend" label no longer applied. It only took a few months for American taxpayers to find out that isn't true - Democrats have remained true to their tax-and-spend ways. And if they get their way with the current budget they have proposed, it will mean every household in America will have more than $2,000 added to their tax burden each year.

The Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics just reported that the U.S. economy created 180,000 jobs in the month of March. Since August of 2003, the economy has created 7.8 million jobs - nearly 2 million a year. We now have had 43 consecutive months when more jobs have been created than lost.

This strong economy and all the job creation were spurred by the tax relief approved in 2001 and 2003 by a Republican-led Congress and signed by President Bush. While the economy may not be perfect for everyone, I doubt anyone truly believes that it would be improved by increasing the tax burden on American families. In fact, there is a strong body of evidence to the contrary. Raising taxes slows economic growth and stifles innovation.

When I filed my tax returns this year, I was reminded that paying taxes is painful enough as it is. I'll keep working to make it better. For now, the Democrats in Congress are trying to make it worse. I wish that were an April Fool's joke, but it isn't.

[30]

There is also a printer-friendly version (PDF, 52 KB) available.